I may be risking my ass by sharing this thought (as I understand that revenge is nothing new to those to whom I am about to refer), but it has been floating around in my head for about a week now, so I feel the need to say something.

There is a certain group (who shall remain unnamed) that seems to be the epitome of modern secret societies. Since it is an activist group, there is no surprise on my part that it took interest in a recent rape case. At any rate, some of the members of the aforementioned group decided to show up at the courthouse where one of the cases was being heard and start a picket line.

Now, I know that I don't understand this group (and never will, because I think it's safest to stay the hell away), but I was under the impression that the point of a secret society is to remain a secret. I realize that this group--like the Masons, for example--are what is referred to as an "open secret". However, if I were in a secret society, I would "hide in plain sight", as it were. I would certainly not don a mask and join a picket line! What a wonderful way to get caught!

I believe, from what little I know of the legal system, that as long as this group (at that and future protests) remains peaceful, law enforcement has no right to so much as detain them. Nevertheless, how hard would it be for the press (and some concerned citizens or what-have-you) to form a group, run up to the picket line and reveal their identities to the world? Perhaps I've been reading too many books lately, but it seems to me that if law enforcement really wanted to get some good leads, all they would have to do is unmask them, haul them in and have the FBI (or someone) question the hell out of them until they (the FBI) can reach the upper echelons, the members of which have caused so many so much trouble in the past.

But--again--I know nothing of this group, save for what I hear on the news. Perhaps part of their open secret is to not hide in plain sight at all, but to be brash and to stake their claim in the world. Me? If I were them, I'd continue to hide.

Sometimes, my mind is like an MP3 player.

Okay, maybe my mind is like an MP3 player quite frequently.

Anyway, a novelista wants her mind on repeat. If her mind is on repeat, then she's working on one novel (or other writing-related project, like editing) and nothing else. If her mind is on shuffle, then she's bouncing from concept to manuscript to a back-burnered piece to a poem and maybe back to the original concept...and nothing gets done. Ever.

Guess whose mind is on shuffle?

So I'm thinking a lot about dystopian fiction, lately. Like most readers, I started with The Giver many years ago. But I read it so young that nothing ever really stuck with me until we re-read it in English 10. Everyone else said we were lucky...that we didn't have to read the boring books assigned by the department veterans. But I have to tell you...you might not think yourself so lucky when you're suddenly discussing euthanasia, social control and the other finer points of the book that a fifteen year old is more capable of understanding than, say, a seven year old.

And then I read Animal Farm. (I don't see how that was dystopian, but I see it listed as such in quite a few places.) Then the sequels to The Giver (which weren't nearly as good). Then Matched and Crossed. Then the Hunger Games trilogy. Divergent. Reached. The Selection. Now I'm re-reading Divergent to see if I like it any better before trying Insurgent. I'm anxiously awaiting the release of The Elite next month, even though the formulaic nature of The Selection made it kind of obvious where the trilogy is going.

Honestly, I don't know why I like this genre (or sub-genre?) if it's all the same in the long run. Little Miss Nobody gets into Something Big and the whole world changes because of it. Actually, the fact that Ally Condie made Cassia middle class (or maybe even upper-middle-class, given that her father was an Official) was a nice change when you think of girls like Katniss and America and how poor they were before the Big Thing gave them more money. (Though just having finished The Selection, I'm starting to think America was a bit better off than Katniss ever was.) I don't know why I want in, not when it's the "it genre" right now. Vampires are so dead (or undead, as the case may be)! Everyone wants to do something dystopian now. Which is why it's a good thing that I don't have an idea for a novel/series. I'm sure that as I sit here typing this, every last idea in the genre is either out there or being finished off by some other author in the world.

I want to say I have an idea, but that's an understatement. I don't have "an" idea, I have plural ideas. Thanks to something biomom said several years ago, I have a whole accordion folder full of ideas! The trouble is, nothing consigned to the folder has ever turned into a novel...at least not yet. Yes, Ophelia and Broken Road spent time in there, but I don't think they were ever completely filed away like the others; they simply had their excess chapters, notes and research stored in there until I felt safe in shredding everything.

I know I'm disappointing the sixty or more people who came by to read the excerpt from Elizabeth after Moo retweeted me (plus my friend Katie, who is now the proud owner of the first and second annotated editions of Ophelia), but I really have no idea where I'm going with it. I have a vague idea of what I want to do, but Elizabeth is not like Ophelia, where I had the movies (and the interregnums) to string together into a plotline. I hope I have better luck with Thalassa...but I've had the same (disliked) title for that going on three years now!

Apparently, I started working on a paragraph before I left wherein I was going to include Moo, but I'd simply forgotten where I left off. Anyway, I'll repeat the warning of the title: this is from the very first draft of the very first chapter. It's subject to change. And getting killed off completely. (And I don't simply mean the subject matter of the chapter.)

It watched the two young women saunter down the hall, discussing the latest interview with the director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It felt students brush past it and pulled its cloak tighter. It's people had been impressed at the strides Doctor Cooper had made since ascending to the directorship at the age of thirty-five--especially with the most recent successes of the Mars program--but It had little regard for former child prodigies whose names meant "Rainbow".

It's way too early to tell if Moo will have dialog, much less show up in person, but at least she's mentioned. ^_^

"It" isn't human, by the way. In fact, I really have no idea what It is, except maybe a host for something else that will show up later. But there you go.

From Twitter:

To the esteemed nerds Moogega Cooper, Brandon Moore, Celeste Anderson, Virgil Griffith, Genevieve Pearson, Danielle Mackey, Joshua Ovenshire, Jonathan Paprocki, Alana Smith-Brown, Ivan Van Norman and Curtis Armstrong:

In honor of Robert Carradine's birthday next Sunday, I'm offering my novels Ophelia and Broken Road for free (Kindle edition only). They will be available from 12:00a - 11:59p on 3/24 at http://www.amazon.com/Ophelia-House-Osborn-ebook/dp/B00BUV8CYE/ and http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008G0EC5A respectively.

If you miss it, don't worry...I still have four promo days for both books that I can use in the future. ^_^

Nerdily yours,
D.S. Ryelle

(I couldn't find Hendrick's twitter handle. I'm not sure he has one?)

I was going to burn all five days at once, but I decided to just do next Sunday now and hit the other four later. (I like the idea of doing both books back-to-back instead of simultaneously. Stretches things out a bit.)

Vacillating on offering Barefoot on the Couch as a short Kindle with no photos, but I'm not sure it would be the same. I wish I had a bigger audience so I could take a survey.

Ah well...back to the drawing...em...writing board. I added Dr. Moo to the "may use" section of my cast list. I'm thinking of having her be the director of NASA at age thirty-five (approximately five years before Elizabeth starts) and having Elizabeth admire her all her life.

WARNING: POLITICALLY/RELIGIOUSLY CHARGED TOPIC

PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK

So one of the first things I'm hearing about Pope Francis is that he says not to discriminate against gays, but that gay adoption is unfair to children and that gay marriage is the work of Satan. Wow. Okay. How about I laugh my ass off at you?

First, I don't believe in Satan. Which is nothing big. Pagans aren't the only ones...Jews don't, either. (Although there seems to be some argument with that, depending on whom you confer with.) Second, even if I did believe in Satan, I would certainly think he doesn't like love. (*insert 90s-ish "oh puke" noises here*) Gay marriage his playground? Hardly!

You know what I think Satan would be into, if he existed? Divorce. "Haha! Let's make these stupid little mortals get together, think they're right for each other and get married. I can't wait 'til they start ripping each other apart!" If Satan is the personification of evil, shouldn't he, therefore, naturally oppose things like love? One night stands, rape, molestation, pedophilia, rough sex (rougher than standard BDSM practices, I mean)...all that nasty stuff, sure. But love? Pardon the pun, but hell no!

I don't care what you say...love is natural. Love, compassion, happiness, forgiveness...these are the things that the deities of all religions promote; things that hold the world together. If Satan existed, he'd be on board for hate, greed, selfishness, anger, tears and holding a grudge. Not loving yourself and certainly not loving your neighbor. He probably would think homosexual love is as gross and terrible as the fundamentalists do. In my opinion, that's the hilarious part. By working against gay marriage, you're working against the greater evil, not the greater good.